Kyuuketskui Yomi
by Michael P Hopcroft
Summary: An AzuDai dark horror saga. Yomi is brought home from the park unconscious after passing out, and everyone fears she will soon be dead. But as Tomo learns, there is one thing worse than a dead Yomi: an UNdead Yomi!
1. A Change of Life

KYUUKETSUKI YOMI

An Azumanga Daioh DarkFic

by Michael Hopcroft

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Azumanga Daioh. It is owned by Kiyohiko Azuma and his representatives. I am using (and possibly abusing) the characters in the Great Doujin Spirit.

WARNING: This is Not a comic AzuFic. It is dark, violent, sensual and deals with difficult moral issues. It is obviously not part of standard continuity.

Part 1: A Change of Life

"This was a rotten time to run out of Green tea," Koyomi Mizuhara said to herself as she crossed the park. In her intensive studies for the college entrance exams she had been neglecting her household duties, one of which was to take care of some of the shopping. When her mother looked for green tea and failed to find it, her natural response was to send Yomi to the convenience store.

Crossing the park was no big deal to Yomi – she was a big girl, and the park wasn't all that dangerous. The worst she thought could happen was a purse-snatcher, and she was only carrying just enough money to buy the tea and a snack.

So when she heard footsteps behind her, she thought nothing of it. People walked thought he park at night. No problem.

The the footsteps behind her quickened; That made her look back. A tall man was walking towards her, with what seemed like a very determined pace. _Going somewhere in a hurry_, she thought. _No problem. I'll just let him pass_.

But when he grabbed her arm, she panicked. She fought, scratching his hand. Before she could scream, the hand covered her mouth. She felt a sharp pain at the side of her neck, and then nothing.

The next thing she saw was an alarm clock blinking 7:22.

"Huh?" Yomi wanted to bolt up in the bed – she realized she was in her bed, but couldn't lift herself up.

She heard a familiar voice. "Easy, Yomi. Take it easy."

"Tomo?" Yomi looked around, but her vision was blurred. A moment later it cleared a bit, as Tomo placed her glasses on her face. "Thank you. What happened?"

"That's what everybody wants to know. I've been waiting here for sixteen hours for you to wake up. Your mother was really worried, you know."

"Then why isn't she here? And how did I get here anyway?"

"It was the cop from the police box in the park. He carried you here, and you were out cold. You'd passed out in the park, but the paramedics didn't have any idea what happened and decided not to put you in the hospital."

"Lucky me. Wait – I've been out cold for sixteen hours?"

"Seventeen hours. I got here an hour after you got back."

"Tomo! Baka! What about school?"

"I called Yukari-sensei, and she knew you weren't coming. And Chiyo-chan came by a couple of hours ago to drop off a copy of the lecture notes. We didn't miss anything. So, what happened anyway? Latest diet go horribly wrong?"

"Don't joke! I don't know what happened, really!"

"Sorry, sorry. I know this is serious. Your mother even told me "If you want to go ona death-watch or something that's fine, but I;m not gonna join you. I don't have that capacity to handle pain." I thought that was a bit cold, but..."

"WHAT? Mom thought I was dying?"

"That's why the paramedics brought you here, she told me. Your pulse was so weak and your breathing was so shallow that they thought it would be kinder to let you die in your own bed than in a hospital. I don't see how it matters, but it wasn't my decision. All I can say is I'm really, really glad you're still with me."

Yomi smiled weakly. "Thnaks. I just noticed something odd – there's this taste in my mouth."

Tomo looked surprised. "taste? You mean you did eat something?"

"No, not like that. It's sort of, I don't know, but it tastes like – blood."

Tomo gulped. "Blood? Creepy!"

"Probably no big deal, Tomo. I must have just cut the inside of my mouth when I fell. Nothing to worry about."

"Are you hungry?" Tomo asked.

"Yeah. But I don't know i I'm strong enough to eat, though."

"I'll make you some miso soup. Be right back."

"Your cooking? I'm not that hungry, Tomo!"

"Don't be so picky!" Tomo exited to the kitchen, returning a few minutes later with a small bowl of soup. "Here, drink up." Tomo placed the bowl to Yomi's lips, and she sipped down some of the soup.

Suddenly Yomi's stoamch began to churn violently. "Ack!" she gurgled. "Tomo, get a bowl, a pan anything!"

"What's wrong?"

"Just do it!" Tomo grabbed the nearest object that might possibly act as a container, and Yomi leaned over it and violently threw up. When she was done, Yomi sad "Tomo, what the hell was in that soup?"

"It seemed fine to me. I even had some myself. It's just miso soup. You must really be sick. I'm calling a doctor."

"No, that's OK. Just let me rest, Tomo. You're been awake for sixteen hours, you can't function like this."

"Yomi, baka! Don't you know how scared I am? I don't want you to die on mje! Don't you dare die on me!"

"I won't die, Tomo. You need to sleep. Go home."

"No way, I'm staying right here. No way am I letting you out of my sight until this is over."

"Fine, grab a blanket and sleep on the floor. But for God's sake, sleep."

The next day after school, Tomo heard a knock on the door. She opened up. "Hi, guys, thanks for stopping by!" Chiyo, Kagura, Sakaki and Osaka were standing at the doorway to Yomi's house.

Chiyo held out a notebook. "I brought the notes for Yomi, Tomo." Tomo could tell that Chiyo's usual good cheer was strained to past the breaking point. "Is she getting better?"

"Sure! She's cheerful, alert, ready to --" Tomo looked out at the gang and coule tell that it wasn't work. "No, it's really bad.."

"What's happening?" Sakaki asked calmly, but with a tone of fear of the answer in her voice.

"She sleeps almost all the time. When she's awake she can barely move, and I can tell she's in a lot of pain. Everything I try to feed her goes right back up – even water. It's been more than two days she's taken anything."

"Then she definitely needs to go to the hospital, _now_." Sakaki said. "If she doesn't get some fluids and nutrients into her system, she won't make it."

"You mean..."

"Yes. Yomi is _dying_, Tomo. It doesn't matter what she says or does, she needs to go to the hospital now and get an IV put in."

"But she says she doesn't want to..."

Kagura ran up and smacked Tomo across the face. "You _asshole! _She has to be delirious from dehydration by now! How do you think _we_ would feel if Yomi died? How would _you_ feel? She's your _best friend_, dammit! _Friends don't let friends die!_ Call the goddamn ambulance already!"

"_You think I haven't tried_? I've called for help every fifteen minuets for the last two damn days, and nobody came! Not the paramedics, not my family doctor, _nobody_. It's like the whole damn world has given up on Yomi! Even her own mother has vanished into thin air! Do you think this isn't ripping out my guts, Kagura? You know what the hospital told me? They told me they'd already signed Yomi's goddamn _death certificate!_"

Kagura swallowed hard. "Damn, Tomo, that's harsh. I can't believe anyone could possibly be so cruel."

Tomo was fighting through tears, but there was look of grim determination on her face. "Well, _I'm_ not giving up. No matter what happens, no matter how bad it gets, no matter how much it hurts, I'm going to fight to the end. Yomi _won't die_! She _can't die_!"

Chiyo took her by the hand. "I wish we could stay. And I'll come back right away. I'm going to get some stuff. Maybe we can find a way to get Yomi some fluids even if the doctor won't help."

"Don't give up, Tomo." Osaka said. "We'll be right back."

"We're not giving up either," Sakaki added. "we're sticking with her no matter what."

"To the end, whatever that is." Kagura concluded. "Yomi will come back to us no matter what!"

"Thanks, guys. I'm going to check on her again. No, don't follow me. I mean it. It breaks my heart to see her like this, and I don't want you guys to remember Yomi this way."

Sakaki nodded. "I understand. We'll all be back as soon as we can."

"OK," Tomo said, "please hurry."

As she watched them go, a dread filled her heart. The paramedics were right, she realized it, it was pointless. No matter how heroic an effort she made, Koyomi Mizuhara was already dead. It's was just that her body hadn't realized it yet. She slunk back into Yomi's room and saw Yomi lying on the bed. She felt for a pulse and found it very weak. "Damn, Yomi, what am I gonna do now? I'm nothing without you, you know. Without you to goad me on, I never accomplish anything. And now I'm so worthless I can't save you. Please, Yomi, don't leave me! I'd give anything to see you rise up out of that bed!"

Suddenly Yomi's eyes fluttered open. With a Herculean effort, she pulled herself up off the bed into a sitting position.

"Yomi! Thank God! Can you speak? Can you say anything?"

"I'm thirsty." And she was, a thirst she had never felt before was tearing her up inside. "I'm thirsty, Tomo."

"You recognize me. That's a good sign." Tomo offered her a glass. "Here's some water, see if you can keep it down this time. The gang is coming back to see if can find some other way to get you fluids."

Yomi reached out to the hand that offered the glass – and grabbed the wrist, causing the glass to fall to the floor and shatter. Tomo noticed it was a really strong grip – she tugged and tugged and could not get free.

"Yomi? What's wrong? It's me! Tomo! Don't you know me?"

"I'm thirsty, Tomo." Yomi looked at her friend hungrily, and somehow she could see the pulse of the veins in Tomo's neck. It was drawing her attention like a beacon. Involuntarily, her mouth was opening.

"Oh my God, Yomi, what happened to your teeth!" Tomo screamed. Yomi's smile revealed that her upper canines were substantially longer and sharper than they had been before, coming to points as thin and precise as sewing needles. "What's happened to you, Yomi?"

"The thirst, Tomo. I can't make the thirst go away." Suddenly she grabbed Tomo's shoulder with her other hand and pulled her close. She released her wrist but placed the hand against the side of Tomo's neck.

"No! Yomi, what are you doing? What's wrong with you?" Tomo writhed and struggled against the grip but nothing could budge. Yomi reached out with her head, as if some invisible radar were guiding her movements. Her mouth opened wide and, as it closed in on Tomo's throat, Tomo screamed in primal terror.

Then, in an instant, Yomi's canines – one could call them _fangs_ -- pierced Tomo's skin. At that moment, Tomo's struggles ceased. Yomi found a little taste of something warm and salty. She cupped her lips around the wound she had made and pulled out the fangs, and that taste washed over her tongue and down her throat, shot in again and again with each beat of Tomo's panicked heart. Yomi swallowed greedily with each pulse, drinking in what seemed to her the most delicious flavor in the world, to greatest flavor she had ever tasted in her life. Yomi felt a surge of adrenaline and energy as she drank this incredible liquid, this super-food, this _blood_, _Tomo's_ blood...

_Tomo!_ With a flash of horror, Yomi realized what was happening. Involuntarily licking the wound, she released her grip and pulled away. With a thus, Tomo's limp body fell and lay splayed on the floor. Yomi wiped her lips with her hand and looked at it. It was blood, blood staining her hand and her soul.

"Tomo!" she cried in despair and sorrow. "What have I done? Kami-sama in Heaven, tell me -- _what have I done_?" Feeling her strength return almost as if it had never gone, Yomi got out of bed, and lifted Tomo's body with her arms. "Tomo, I'm sorry. I wish – I wish I were dead. I wish I were _dead_ and _burning in Hell_ for doing this to you."

At that moment, Tomo started to stir. Arms began to move, and she began to roll her body.

Yomi cried tears of relieved joy. "Thank God, Tomo! Thank God I didn't kill you!"

Then Tomo dreamily opened her eyes and looked into Yomi's. "More." she said weakly.

"What?"

"I still have more, Yomi. You're thirsty, right? You need more?"

"Tomo, what are saying? I almost _killed_ you!"

"And it would have been fantastic, Yomi. I would have given everything I had and perished in the arms of my best friend. You can still to it, Yomi, you can still have more. Come on, Yomi, Drink some more. Drink it all."

"Do you have any idea what you're saying, Tomo? Do you have any idea what just happened? Are you totally out of what passes for your mind?"

"Come on, Yomi, one more bite. Don't you want that taste again? Didn't it taste good?"

Yomi threw her onto the bed and, weeping tears of grief and terror, ran from the room. She made it to the bathroom and saw her face – for some reason she was thinking she wouldn't be able to – and frantically washed away the blood that still clung to her mouth and dribbled down her chin. She filled a glass with water, took a sip, and spat the foul taste back out. She opened her mouth and looked at her new teeth, sharp and, in her eyes, terrible. From her own room she could hear Tomo moan semi-deliriously, continuing to plead, to beg for the stroke that would surely kill her. Yomi buried her face in her hands and wept bitterly. "What happened? What did I just do? What in the world have I become?"

She heard a knock at the door, but couldn't bring herself to answer it. Instead, she went over the door and locked it. If someone were to see her like this, to see Tomo on the bed weak and babbling, she knew it could never be forgiven.

After a moment Yomi returned to the room. Tomo, a little bit stronger now, looked up and smiled. "Ready for seconds after all?" she said.

"Dammit, Tomo, this isn't funny! What the hell just happened? _Why_ was I drinking your blood?"

"You kept saying you were thirsty."

"And why would I be thirsty for _blood_? I'm not some kind of _vampire_, you know!"

Tomo smiled indulgently. "Of course! That's _exactly_ what you are. A _vampire!_ And lucky me, I get to be your first victim."

Yomi fell to her knees in fear and shame. "_No_. God in Heaven, _no_."

"That must why you couldn't drink water or eat the soup. All you can handle now is blood."

"But why? What happened? I wasn't like this before..." Yomi was struck with a sudden realization. "the park! Oh my God, that man I the park he attacked me, and I struggled, and I couldn't stop him, and he – No, it can't be. I can't be undead! _I didn't die!_"

"Maybe you _did_ die, Yomi. Maybe you died and something about what happened changed your body."

"My God, Tomo, the blood! The blood in my mouth! I thought it was mine, but it _wasn't_! It was _his_!"

Tomo smiled weakly. "There you have it, then. In the struggle you swallowed some of his blood. Maybe that's why you got so sick – it was changing your body, turning you..."

"Turning me into a _vampire_. An undead creature who can only survive by drinking human blood. A creature who can only survive by killing human beings."

"Not necessarily, Yomi. You haven't killed me yet. Although it would be kind of nice if you did, because it'd be a great way to go."

"_Baka!_ Didn't that _hurt_?"

"Yeah, but it also felt really good. Like one of the most incredible good feelings you can imagine. Come on, come to bed and drink the rest of my blood. Be a good little vampire and finish your meal."

"No! Don't you understand, Tomo? I nearly killed you! You almost died! You're my best friend, and I came within a hair's breadth of murdering you!"

"Are you..."

"No, Tomo! For the last time, I am _not_ going to _kill_ you!

"Aww, you're a spoilsport, Yomi. Ruining my big dramatic sacrificial exit."

Yomi sighed heavily. "Anyway, we have to do something. I can't stay like this."

"Why not? Vampires are wicked cool, you know."

"That's not the point! What if I did kill you? What if I attacked Sakaki or Kagura? My God, Tomo, what if I were to suddenly get really thirsty and kill _Chiyo-chan_?"

"That's a problem, but I won't have to worry about it 'cause I'll be dead."

"_That's no help!_"

"Well, don't you know any other vampires you can ask for advice? What about the guy who killed _you_?"

"He was a complete stranger. I have no idea who he is."

"Darn. Well, I'm going to sleep on it. Let know when you're ready for seconds." Yomi saw that Tomo had drifted off to sleep. She filtrated on Tomo's neck, where a trickle of blood dried from two small punctures down her neck and there was crimson stain on the shoulder of her shirt. Yomi left the room and closed the door behind her to avoid the temptation.

At that moment, she heard a key turn in the lock. Her mother, dressed in black entered the room and looked up. "Koyomi-chan!" she said. "You're all right! Thank God, I was so worried!"

"Worried enough that you couldn't stand to see me, mother?"

"We can talk about that later. Are you hungry? I can whip up something. What are you in the mood for?"

Yomi, almost outside herself, smiled showing a glitter of sharp teeth. "Seconds."

TO BE CONTINUED


	2. Questions and Regrets

KYUUKETSU YOMI

An Azumanga Daioh DarkFic

by Michael Hopcroft

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Azumanga Daioh. It is owned by Kiyohiko Azuma and his representatives. I am using (and possibly abusing) the characters in the Great Doujin Spirit.

WARNING: This is Not a comic AzuFic. It is dark, violent, sensual and deals with difficult moral issues. It is obviously not part of standard continuity.

Part 2: Questions and Regrets

Tomo woke up and realized she was in the wrong bed.

Dismissing what had happened the night before as a dream would have been the easy way out. But she couldn't do that for two reasons – the fact that she was in Yomi's bed and not her own, and the fact that the side of her neck was decidedly sore.

Yomi was sitting upright in the chair in front of her desk. "Good morning," she said, "are you over it now?"

"Over what?"

"Over your desire to commit suicide by having me drink the rest of your blood. Do you have any idea how much that bothered me?"

"I don't know about that, but you must be getting thirsty by now. I'm still here, Yomi."

"Knock it off already! And go check on my mother, will you? I don't know if she'll be OK."

"You drank from your own mother? Wicked!" Tomo got up and went over to the room Yomi had specified. "She's still asleep," she said when she came back. "My, what sharp teeth you have, Yomi! They left quite a mark..."

"Shut up! Your saying things like that is only making things worse. It's bad enough that I've become some kind of undead bloodsucking fiend, without knowing that in one night I almost killed my mother and my best friend. And to make matters worse, it doesn't work."

Tomo seemed confused. "What doesn't work?"

"Sunlight. When the sun came up I went over and opened the window to see what would happen to me when the sunlight touched me, and you know what happened? Not a goddamn thing! I can walk around in daylight as easily as I always could."

Tomo clapped excitedly. "But that's a good thing! It means you can continue your life, Yomi! You can come back to school now! You can take the entrance exams and go to college and..."

"And what? I'm _dead_, Tomo. I died in the park three nights ago in the arms of a stranger. The only reason I'm walking around and talking to you is that I gulped down a lot of human blood – _your_ blood, Tomo."

"For which I expect you to show proper gratitude, Yomi. We are going back to school today."

"Are you _insane_, Tomo? Are you _completely and utterly mad_? I'm a _vampire_! I shouldn't be anywhere near a school! Do you have any idea how dangerous I've become?"

Tomo smiled and slapped Yomi on the shoulder. "You'll be fine. Besides, you'll be bringing a lunch anyway. It'll be perfectly safe. You'll be in no danger."

"I'm not the one I'm worried about!"

"Don't you think it'll look ever weirder if you _don't_ go to school?"

* * *

And so, an hour and a half later, Yomi walked into Class 3-3. To her surprise, the girls all gathered around her eagerly. 

"Yomi!" Kagura said. "Thank the Gods you're back! We were so worried!"

"Thanks," Yomi said, "It was rough going but I made it."

"Thanks to Tomo!" blurted out Tomo standing behind her.

Yomi turned on her angrily. "And why are _you_ taking the credit?"

Sakaki nodded her head. "You were able to get help for her after all?" she asked.

Chiyo added "Yeah, I couldn't get _anyone_ to go over to Yomi's house, and with my family's connections that's saying something. What did you do?"

Tomo laughed. "Well, you could say I _stuck my neck out _a little." And then she laughed harder, only to have Yomi grab her by the shoulder.

"Tomo, Hall. Now. _On Pain of Death_."

The girls watched as Yomi dragged a startled-looking Tomo out into the hall.

"It is weird that you couldn't get help, Chiyo." Kagura remarked.

"Weird is not the word." Chiyo frowned. "From what I was able to find out about how the police handled Yomi's case, a lot of the stuff that happened wasn't just severe violations of medical ethics – it was illegal. They could have gone to prison for it. Withholding care, writing a premature death certificate – all against the law." Even coming from someone as small and innocuous as Chiyo, the words had a bite to them.

"Why would they do something like that?" Kagura blurted out. "It's inconceivable!"

Sakaki shook her head. "The only reason that makes sense is fear. They were afraid that if they didn't, something worse would happen. Something much, much _worse_."

"Yomi nearly died! What the hell could be worse than that?"

"Maybe Yomi _not_ dying."

Chiyo was visibly shaking at those words. "Miss Sakaki, you're scaring me."

Sakaki's normally gentle eyes began to harden. "Perhaps we should _all_ be scared..."

* * *

In the hall, Tomo looked at Yomi with surprise. "Come on, it isn't that big a deal..." 

"Isn't it? Do you think having your blood drunk is _funny_? Something to _joke_ about?"

"_Everything_ is something to joke about, Yomi. You know that."

"Then what do you think it is? _Fun?_ Do you get some sort of sick homoerotic _thrill_ from staring death in the face?"

"Hey, Yomi, I don't even know what that _means..._ All I'm saying is that we have to take things as they come from here on in. We're back, things are returning to normal, we're in Yukari's homeroom again and all is right with the world. You should set aside your problems and enjoy yourself!"

"I should see the Headmaster, tell him I'm dropping out."

"No way, Tomo! You are so close to graduating and getting into college, you will see this through! Don't you have any faith in yourself? You're still Yomi!"

"Am I? Am I really?"

Suddenly they heard a familiar voice behind them "Hey, hey hey! Do you have to fight in the hall? My head hurts bad enough as it is..."

Yomi sighed. "You didn't have to get drunk last night, Yukari-sensei."

"Sure I did! Yomi, you're -- " Yukari paused for a second. "You're back!"

Yomi turned around. "Yes, that is my back. And this is my front. Any questions?"

"Yeah, you're not dead! The Headmaster told me you were dead!"

"Well, you'd better go tell him I'm not then. Or do we want to embarrass the school by having a big assembly for the funeral of someone who's still alive?"

"You're right! That would have been so embarrassing. I'll take care of it. Can we have the wake anyway, though?"

"Wake?"

"I was gonna toss back a six-pack of Sapporos in your memory tonight."

"Knock yourself out, sensei."

* * *

The classes went fairly normally. Yomi began to regain her interest in classwork, as a distraction if nothing else. She noticed that the other girls were reserved, except for Tomo, who was trying to be manic enough for all the Bonkuras put together. 

_How could Tomo be so energetic after losing so much blood last night?_

After Kimura left after Classics, Tomo cried out "Yay! Lunchtime! Lunchtime!"

"You forgot to bring a lunch, didn't you?" Yomi remarked.

"No sweat. I'm off to the school store for bread!" And Tomo ran off at Warp Ten, as usual.

"Tomo getting your lunch?' Kagura asked.

Yomi was flustered. This would be tough. How could she explain not eating? "It's a... it's a..."

"Not a diet! You've been sick, Yomi, you need to get your strength back, not worry about losing weight."

"Not that kind of diet! It's a special diet my doctor put me on. I can't eat solid foods for a while. That's it. No solid foods. Sorry." Yomi was sputtering, and Kagura could tell she was clearly reaching.

"Liquid diet?" Chiyo chirped. "Then maybe I can help." Yomi was amazed that Chiyo had even heard the conversation. "Here!" Yomi looked down and saw Chiyo holding out a bottle.

"What is it?"

"An energy drink, Yomi. It'll perk you right up."

Yomi was about to politely refuse when she noticed something about Chiyo standing there. She could tell that Chiyo was relieved and pleased to see her. So much so that her little heart was beating faster, and the blood in her exposed veins was coursing through at a more rapid rate. Yomi could plainly see it, and nobody else could.

Yomi stretched out her hand, as if to grab the drink. She could see the vein in Chiyo's neck throb, inviting, pleading. Yomi's thirst grew deeper, as she reached forward past the hand offering the drink, towards the little girl's shoulder...

Suddenly Yomi shrieked. "No!" She stood bolt upright and ran, knocking over her desk as she ran past a startled Kagura, past a bewildered Chiyo, past the retuning Tomo knocking down her armful of rolls, and into the hall.

"Hey, what just happened?" Tomo asked.

"I don't know. Yomi looked scary." Chiyo said.

"Scary? How?"

"Something frightened her." Kagura said. "Something frightened her and she ran away."

Chiyo shook her head. "It's only an energy drink. Why would Yomi be scared of an energy drink?"

Tomo's mind raced. _A drink? I was offering her a drink when... That's it! Offering Yomi a drink reminds her that she's thirsty, and when she's thirsty she wants to..._ "Don't worry, Chiyo. I'll find Yomi." Tomo then went back into the hall. _Yomi's really going to need a drink now. If I don't find her and give her one..._

* * *

Yomi was all the way outside when she finally began to ease up on her pace. _That was too damn close_, she thought. _If it'd been Tomo she might have stood a chance, but not Chiyo. There's no way someone that small could survive being bitten by me!_ Yomi began to think. _Come on, you're the smart one, Yomi. There must be some way! Maybe I can find a couple of cats – cats have blood, don't they? That'll tide me over until I can get out of school..._

She noticed that she was out in the courtyard, by the vending machines. It seemed odd to her that so few people were around during lunchtime. Probably a good thing, too.

Then she heard a voice. "You all right, Mizuhara-senpai?" She turned around and there was a boy. A boy she didn't quite recognize.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm Okay. Thanks, ..."

"It's all right that you don't know who I am. I'm Wataku-san, from Class 1-2. Seniors don't usually notice freshmen readily."

"I see. Thank you for being concerned about me, but I'm all right."

"Okay." Wataku walked up to one of the machine and put some coins in. A satisfying rattle followed, and then another, and Wataku rushed back to her. "Lucky! Something happened with the machine and I got an extra juice! You can have it, senpai!" Wataku held out a can of orange juice.

Suddenly it was too much. Yomi grabbed the freshman by the arm and pulled him towards her. He gave a startled cry, but before he could say anything she had pulled him down and buried her fangs in his throat, right on on the vein. As she drank, his breathing was heavy. He stood as long as he could manage, and as his legs began to fail him Yomi found herself unconsciously holding him on his feet, as the hot, wonderful blood poured into her mouth. Yomi began to wonder if it could be like this forever...

"YOMI! What are you doing?" Yomi was startled out of her trance by the sound of Tomo's voice. She let the boy fall, again subconsciously licking the wound before she did. She turned to Tomo, who could the blood on Yomi's lips dripping down her chin, see the fangs sharp and gleaming.

Tomo ran over to the boy and checked his pulse. She looked at Yomi with concern. "He's still alive, Yomi. You didn't kill him." Yomi was turning away with revulsion. "Hey, I said you didn't kill him! That's good, isn't it?"

"And if you hadn't stopped me, Tomo, I would have killed him! My God, I didn't want to stop! I wanted to keep on drinking until there was nothing left! The thirst! The damnable _thirst_!"

"It's okay, Yomi. It's over now."

Yomi turned on Tomo furiously. "Hell no, Tomo, this isn't over! _It's only begun!_ This is what it's going to be like, every goddamn stinking day for as long as I live! Every day there's going to be someone else, someone minding their own business, who'll cross my path at the wrong time! And I won't be able to do anything about it. I didn't want to attack this guy! I don't know him at all. He was offering me a can of juice, a simple kindness, and suddenly I had my teeth in his neck and I was draining away his life! You wanted me to come back, Tomo! You wanted me to come to school, and now look! Look at what I've done!"

Tomo whapped Yomi on the top of the head. "Snap out of it already, Yomi! We can handle this!"

"Handle this? How can we possibly handle this?"

"First, we clean you up. Then we clean him up and take him to the nurse's office. Tell her he collapsed in the courtyard, she'll have no cause not to believe us. Then we go back to class as if nothing happened."

"And how does that help? Tomorrow it'll be the same thing!"

"Tomorrow we are going to have lunch on the roof. And I'm going to be your lunch. If you have a willing donor..."

"You mean victim."

"I mean what I said, Yomi. If you have a willing donor, nobody else gets hurt."

"But even if I can control how much I drink, I can;t drink from you every day. Nobody has that much blood."

"When this guy comes to, I bet he'll be more than happy to join your supply list if his experience was anything like mine. All you need is two or three more like us and you'll be set for the whole school year, Yomi!"

"But I can't..."

"And if you don't go to school with me, you'll still have the same problem, but it'll be worse. You'll be going out hunting down strangers, and if you do that people _will_ die. This way is a lot better for everybody."

Yomi sighed heavily. "You'd better be right about this, Tomo."

"Hey, if I'm wrong, you'll kill me, all right?"

Yomi could not hear to correct Tomo's joke. If Tomo was wrong, she _would_ die – and it wouldn't be a joke, it would be _reality_...

TO BE CONTINUED


End file.
